Elizabeth Waldstein-Hart, CEO Executive Director, Walkway Over the Hudson
Elizabeth Waldstein-Hart has served as Walkway Over the Hudson's Executive Director for the last five years. Walkway Over the Hudson is a non-profit group that works to support and improve the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park, a repurposed railroad bridge in Poughkeepsie, NY. At 212 feet tall and 1.28 miles long, Walkway is the longest elevated pedestrian bridge in the world, welcoming over 700,000 visitors per year. During Waldstein-Hart's tenure, the Walkway organization and its responsibilities have grown dramatically. Under Waldstein-Hart's direction, Walkway has raised competitive grant funding to support major programmatic and capital initiatives such as the Dutchess Rail Trail connection, Waterfront Elevator, and many Walkway Master Plan improvements (including benches, lighting, signage, the Washington Street staircase, and East and West Pavilions.) WaldsteinHart instituted the Walkway Volunteer Ambassador program, formulated a new strategic plan, completed the second Camoin Economic Impact Study, and is implementing the Walkway as Gateway to Success initiative. Prior to her work with Walkway, Waldstein-Hart worked extensively in the field of non-profit development, having worked for a variety of international charitiessuch as CARE, Save the Children, and World Educationas well as national and regional efforts such as the YMCA, Special Olympics, and the Arts Institute. For four years, she served as the Project Coordinator for a private/public partnership seeking to develop a Regional Visitor Center to promote historical and recreational tourism in the Mid-Hudson Valley.